Month 12

For your 52nd weekly Rookie Moms challenge, we invite you to pat yourself on the back — You have a ONE YEAR OLD! The celebration is for you. If you are inviting others to celebrate the big ONE with you, make some plans for it. Make it easy on yourself by delegating food and decorations […]

As your next weekly challenge, we’re sharing a favorite activity from our book, The Rookie Mom’s Handbook: In the long run, Grandma, baby and Mom and Dad will all look forward to this annual tradition. Since you’re still a rookie, however, do this to the degree you feel comfortable. How it works: You and […]

Like they used to say on TV, membership has it’s privileges. Both of the Bay Area children’s museums that I have been to are part of a consortium of Children’s Museums that have reciprocal memberships. This means that if you get a one-year membership at Habitot in Berkeley, for example, you can go to the […]

My friend Mary (who had her son Del in the same hospital the day after I had Julian) gave this idea to our Moms Group. She said that 13-month old Del loves the pet store where he can check out the animals, especially the birds. Does your baby love animals? Mine really did (and still […]

I can’t believe it’s been a year! Beyond the fact that my son morphed from an amphibian-like newborn to a caveman toddler in 365 days, I can’t get over the fact that I’ve survived and kept him alive through all of those changes! Rookie Mom’s Challenge #52, “Celebrate Your Way” is aptly named – I’m […]

A valuable list of very simple things every rookie mom needs to know are included in the new book Homemade Play by early childhood educator Kim Lyons. These are not life-saving skills like how to treat a high fever, but rather revelatory concepts, such as things you can do with a kitchen sponge to entertain […]

Why these challenges? Our own experience with unstructured time and a small baby tells us that having an activity planned or a project for the day is tremendously helpful in passing the time. When your partner gets home from work or you hop on the phone with your sister, instead of talking about length of […]

If your kid is not yet saying “doggie,” well, let’s change that. Seek out a dog park and go there as an outing. Even if you have a dog at home, your little guy will enjoy seeing all the shapes and sizes they come in. If you are scared of dogs, stand outside the fenced […]

photo: The Macs Before we get all in a tizzy about first birthday parties and the cuteness you are about to behold, allow me to confess that I think the first birthday party is optional. Parents doing something momentous to celebrate their own first year of parenthood also seems like a fine idea (first overnight […]

One year olds will make anything a toy — like that tube of butt cream or disposable coffee cup you keep trying to throw away — but since those don’t make the best birthday presents, we have some ideas for you. Here are our favorite go-to best gifts for a one-year old: If you want […]